Guaguanco...

[squirrel]

Can you guys tell me what you know about guaguanco...? I don't know much... :(

[borikenSalsero]

Me knows nothing either, well except that it is one of three forms of cuban rumba. Here in NY City they play a few from time to time, and it can be mambo-ed to, well somewhat. But not very many people can really dance it.

Me wants to learn more about it too.

[squirrel]

I just had to move it here... it is about dancing... not about music...

[salsachinita]

Raluca, I think Looyenyo & Pelao from DF will be able to shed some lights.

There is also a thread over there in DF salsa forum as well........wonder what it's called :? .........

As a dance, it's an Afro Cuban one that is usually danced in a line (so not strictly a partner one) which makes many of the moves perfect for shines.

Luis & Joby have been drawing inspirations from Rumba Guaguanco as part of their shines workshop. I was pleasantly suprised to find quite a few common threads between the two style :D !

[peachexploration]

Some info from salsacrazy.com

GUAGUANCO

Guaguanco is one of the most popular styles of rumba that is still danced today. Rumba developed among the different African ethnic groups, primarily from Central and West Africa, who were brought to Cuba as slaves. Guaguanco, like the other rumba styles yambu and columbia, developed in the middle 1800’s. Guaguanco is played in 2/4 or 4/4 tempo giving it a moderate to fast tempo. Guaguanco is danced by a male-female couple and consists of a flirtatious, sexual game with a distinctive body movement called the vacunao (“pelvic thrust) performed by the male dancer. Dance historians have noted that the vacunao is found in other African based dances in Latin America and the guaguanco maybe derived from the “yuka”, a secular dance of the Bantu people.

“The couple begins to dance…the male dancer is more active as he circles around her without touching her. The dance climaxes as the male attempts to give the vacuano when the female is unprepared to avoid it. Much of her dancing expertise resides in her ability to entice the male while skillfully avoiding being touched by his vacunao.” (Boggs 1992)

By the turn of the century, rumba had migrated to the black working class neighborhoods of Cuban cities. The music consisted mainly of percussive instruments including drums, wooden boxes (cajones), tables and chairs, spoons and jars. During the first half of the 20th century rumba bands were comprised of singers, one or more large drums (tumbadoa-conga and tumbadora-salidor), a small conga drum (quinto) and a pair of wooden sticks (palaitos) that were beaten against the side of one of the drums. Claves( two hardwood sticks that are struck together) and the cajones were often added to the ensemble. You can still see remnants of guaguanco in the hip and pelvic motions of of today's salsa dancers when the couple separates and each person dances "freestyle".

Sources:

Rebecca Mauleon, The Salsa Guidebook
F.Figueroa, Encyclopedia of Latin American Music Vernon Boggs, Salsiology

[peachexploration]

Any more thoughts about dancing to Guaguanco?

[looyenyeo]

The information Peach gave is accurate, although I think I can elaborate a little more and also add my take on the dance. Before I do that though, I ask you to bear in mind that the African approach to sexuality is distinctly different, some say more open/overt, that that of Europe. The play of dance in the Guaguancó owes much to its African ancestry.

The dancers take on the roles of the hen and rooster, with the woman in the centre and the man moving around her in a circle called the "oya". The (five toed) chicken is an important symbol in the Yoruban creation myth; and the "oya" or circle of creation symbolises the universe. Hence the woman stands at the centre of creation.

The woman dances in the centre, on the spot or using a single side-step basic (I call it the cucaracha). If she's wearing a skirt, she'll hold the right and left folds in respective hands, using it as wings to cover and uncover the front and back of her pelvis. Otherwise, she'll simulate the presence of the skirt using her hands. The rooster makes to "touch" the hen with his wing when the front/back of the woman's pelvis is exposed.

In a good guaguancó, a lot of teasing is to be done on the part of the woman, and it's the wiliest rooster not the fastest that wins his way.

The vacunao is an escalation of proceedings by the rooster.

The rhythm of creation is set up by the lower-pitched drums, originally played on packing crates used for bacalao (salted codfish) and empty olive oil jars. The higher-pitched drum voices improvisations, which the rooster interprets. These used to be played on smaller crates used to transport candles.

It is said that rumba guaguancó originated in the docks, hence the use of backing crates and oil jars. There are two main variants: the Havana style and the Matanzas style, both cities are ports.

I came across some excellent DVDs displaying rumba including guaguancó. You can find them at boogalu.com

Loo

[JazzHands]

Didn't he fight Godzilla once? :D





Sorry, I'll get my coat.....

[peachexploration]

@ JazzHands :P

Any other Guaguanco enthusiasts?

[NYguero]

I took rumba classes for a year. They'd make good shines, but all I remember is that if I attempt those moves on the dance floor (e.g. the vacunao), I'm bound to get slapped by the girl :p
________

[borikenSalsero]

I took rumba classes for a year. They'd make good shines, but all I remember is that if I attempt those moves on the dance floor (e.g. the vacunao), I'm bound to get slapped by the girl :p

LOL

Have you seen Tito Sandoval dance Salsa? He does the vacunao a lot. each time he gets a laugh from the girls and a bunch of claps from expectators. He really knows how to get it in without looking brute.

I do it once in a rare moon but only to the girls I know. I feel the same as you. I feel like the slap will come even before the vacunao hapens.

[peachexploration]

Vacunao, the forbidden dance. :twisted: :lol: